Protect and Survive
by emelie95
Summary: When Eleonora and her younger sister becomes homeless they are being thrown into the land of Narnia. And then when she literally stumbles through the doors of Cair Paravel she catches the eye of a certain King…
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! I watched the last Narnia movie last week and I just couldn't help loving it. So, I decided to write a fiction about what I thought could have happened instead… :)**

Oh, and I apologize if there's any grammar or spelling wrongs… But, I'm Swedish so this is kinda hard for me, to write in English, I mean.  
But I do hope you like it! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing… Do you really think I would sit here and write on fanfiction if I did?

Enjoy!

**.:PROLOGUE:.**

I stood outside the orphanage and silently took in my surroundings. The autumn had finally arrived, and with it the chilly winds that roughly played with the golden leaves on the ground. The naked trees that stood so tall and proud during the summer stretched their branches miserably to the grey sky, begging the sun to bring warmth back again.  
I shuddered, my clothes was way too thin to be outside in this cold weather.  
The orphanage behind me was only memories, memories of safety and a feeling of a home. Yes, home. The orphanage had been my home for about four years and they had offered food, warm clothes and a mattress to sleep on. What more could you ask for?  
But for a couple of weeks ago the horrible message had been received by all the children in the building with sorrow and fright: _The orphanage is being closed. _

The little, warm hand in mine was the only thing that kept me from screaming.  
What was I supposed to do? I was just a fifteen years old girl; how could anyone expect me to not only take care of me, but a younger sister as well? I wasn't able to bring in any money; I had nothing to sell, nothing to give. I was a miserable excuse for an older sister, a protector. But how could I protect her when I didn't even know how to protect myself?

I sighed and tried to blink away the tears in my eyes.

"Come on, Sarah", I said, trying to sound confident and cheery.

My six year old sister looked up at me and smiled bravely.

"Where are we going?" she asked and grabbed my hand a little tighter.

I bit down hard on my lip as I thought about what I was going to tell her. I couldn't tell her the truth; that we had nowhere to go to. That I, her older sister, was at the edge of panic and didn't have the slightest clue of what to do.

I bent down and brushed away her curly, blond hair from her grey eyes.

"We'll see, Sarah. It's an adventure."

She nodded and beamed up at me, I felt terrible. She trusted me with her whole being. She deserved better, so much better than I could ever give her.

"With pirates? And knights? And p_rincesses?"_

"We'll see, my little adventurer", I chuckled and put on a cheery face, but on the inside I screamed. "Perhaps there will even be unicorns and giants and speaking animals too…"

She laughed at me. "Silly Ellie, animals cannot talk!"

"How can you know that?" I said and decided to play along. "How can you know that the dog over there cannot talk? How can you know that he isn't barking just so that his owner will think that he's just an ordinary animal and give him more opportunity to plan his escape? How can you know that he isn't planning on taking over the world?" I pointed discreetly at a posh-looking poodle across the street.

Sarah laughed even harder at this. "But Ellie, animals _cannot_ take over the world."

"How do you know that?" I laughed.

"They just _can't!" _

She pouted and I rolled my eyes.

"But can you imagine his voice _if_ he could talk?" I chuckled. "_Oh, no! I got dirt on my perfect, white paws. How am I ever going to wash this away? I'll have to ask the maid to wash me later this day. Maybe I could even put on a sad face and they'll give me some candy…?"_

This made Sarah laugh even more. "Silly Ellie!"

I just smiled, happy that I could make her laugh; soon there might not be so much to laugh about. This put me in a sad mood, but I kept smiling. I would never, ever want to bring my naïve little sister down from her little, pink clouds of happiness. I wished I was that carefree, too. 

The sun disappeared way too soon for my liking that day. We had wandered around the small town and as the day went by it grew harder and harder to keep the smile of my face. I think Sarah noticed, but she didn't say a thing about it. She was much too smart for a girl of her age.

"Ellie", she whined, "I'm tired. I'm hungry. I don't want to walk anymore. I want to sleep."

"Of course, baby sister. Come here. We can sleep just over there." I pointed at a bench across the road.

She nodded and her face fell noticeable.  
"Won't it be cold?" she murmured.

I closed my eyes for a second, thinking about just how cold it would be here in Selby during the autumn nights.

"Nah… just a bit chilly. But don't worry, it's just a part of the adventure. We have to prove that we can handle a bit of cold first. And you'll have my jacket, so it won't be that cold", I assured her.

"But how about you? Won't you be cold if you don't have your jacket, Ellie?"

"No, baby girl, it'll be just fine", I said with a smile and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Come on."

We made our way to the bench and I sat down. I spread my arms out and she hesitantly sat down beside me.

"Now lie down, Sarah. It will be more comfortable that way."

She nodded and lied down beside me, her head in my lap. I shrugged of my jacket and ignored the cold wind that blew right threw my thin jumper. I put it over her, hoping that it would give her some warmth.

"Thanks", she murmured.

I just smiled. "Good night, Sarah. Sweet dreams."

"Good night, Ellie."

I just sat there for a moment, just thinking about how we would survive this. For we would. I wouldn't allow anything to happen to my baby sister. Not a thing.

"Ellie?" Sarah whispered after a couple of minutes.

I was ripped out of my slight depressed thoughts by her small voice.

"Yes, Sarah?"

"What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know, Sarah. We'll just have to find out."

"Won't we go back to the orphanage?" she whispered.

"No, we won't", I sighed.

"Why?"

"Because… we have to discover the world a bit by our own first. Our adventure, remember?"

"Oh", she said.

I held my breath, wondering if she would accept my answer or not.

But soon her breaths became deep and steady and I figured she was asleep. Good, then she might forget our situation for a while.

I, myself, couldn't fall asleep. I just sat there, thinking.  
It grew darker and darker around me and soon the moon shone on the sky. I looked up on it, the light so bright it almost hurt. I felt how another shudder ripped through my dull body. It was so cold. I saw how my sister's lips slowly turned a horrible blue/lilac color, and it terrified me. I wrapped my arms around her small body and the tears I'd held inside of me all day begun to fall from my eyes. Why did all this happen to me? Why me? What have I done?

When I had no more tears left in me anymore I suddenly remembered something. I sat up again and reached for the silver locket that hung in a chain around my neck. It was old and time had put its marks on it. The locket was fairly small and fit perfectly in my hand as I stared at it. The small, red stone in the middle of it glowed and memories poured into me as I locked my eyes on the jewelry.

_"Just open it in case of extreme emergency."_

It had been my grandmas and she had given it to me when she died.

_"Take care of it, Eleonora. Promise me you will. Don't you ever sell it."_

I might just be on my way to breaking that promise. It could give Sarah food, perhaps a blanket to keep the cold at bay at nights… But I couldn't do that, Gran had made me promise. And I don't break promises. She trusted me. I wondered for a brief second if she could see me where she was now. Perhaps she was a star? Would she be proud of me?

"Gran… God or whoever is up there… Please let me take care of Sarah. Help me; I can't do this on my own. And she needs me, she trusts me and I don't know how I'm going to live up to her expectations! I promised her an adventure with princesses and knights and I can't even keep her warm! I don't know what to do! I just want her to be happy. Help me help her. Please…" I whispered into the dark with the locket tightly held in my hand.  
I pressed my lips together and hoped that someone might hear me.  
I looked down on my little sisters shuddering and cold shape under my jacket and made a decision.

I took a deep breath. _This is an emergency. _  
I kind of expected something to happen when I opened the locket, I don't know what, but just something. I have to say I was a bit disappointed. Inside the locket was just a small piece of wood. Strange. It was old and it looked quite odd as it was in a deep red color. I touched it hesitantly and just as my fingertips touched the wood everything went black and I blanked out, still with the locket in my right hand and the other arm slung securely around my sisters sleeping form.

**Review is love… :)**

Well, what do you think happened?

And please review! I want to know if you liked it or not. Should I keep writing it?


	2. Chapter 1

**Hi again! Here's the next chapter! Hope you like it.  
And please review once you've read it, it would really brighten my day! :)**

crocpop: Thanks, glad you enjoyed the story! :D I'll try to update as much as possible… ;)

Disclaimer: And once again… I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia or anything else that I might mention in here. 

**.:CHAPTER ONE: TALKING ANIMALS:.**

I woke up, feeling all warm and nice inside. I haven't felt this comfortable in years. No, scratch that. Never. I've never, ever felt this comfortable. I was lying on by back on a comfy… yeah, what was it? It surely wasn't a mattress. I felt something squirm beside me and I slowly opened my eyes. I almost got blinded by the bright sun that shone from high up on the sky. Birds circled above us in the sky and suddenly one of them dove right into the sea. Yes, you heard me right. The _sea. _I've always wanted to see the sea, though I've never gotten the opportunity to do it. My parents couldn't afford it and well… It has always been a matter of money; something I never had very much of-

I quickly cut of my thoughts as they drifted off to the parts of my life I rather didn't think about; I wanted to forget.

But here I was, anyway. At the sea. It was even more magnificent than I could ever have imagined. The waves rolled into the beach with a thunder and the water was a turquoise blue color. It stretched for as far as I could see, and that was quite a bit. You see, there were no clouds in the way and I could see miles and miles of clear, blue water. I squealed and quickly stood up before I could help myself. I heard a gasp behind me and suddenly I realized that the thing beside was my sister. I slowly turned around and saw her lying in the sand with her big, grey eyes wide as she took in everything around her. I guessed that that was exactly how I looked at the moment. Her hair was in a mess, full of sand and her clothes in the same state. I stretched out my hand for her and she hesitantly took it and got up from the ground.

"Ellie… Where are we?" she asked, astonished by her surroundings.

"I… I don't know… actually", I said slowly. It was the truth. I had no clue about where we where or how we got here. Wasn't that a bit strange?

"Our adventure…" she suddenly said. "This is our adventure!"

I smiled and shrugged. I didn't want to ruin her excitement.

"Oh! It's the sea, Ellie!" She gasped and stared at the water.

"Yeah, baby girl, I believe it is."

She just gaped at the sea, not moving a foot.

"Come on, Sara, don't you want to touch it?" I asked, amused, but still throwing frightened glances around me, just in case. What if someone was watching us? What if we shouldn't be here?

She nodded exited.

"Well, go on then!" I laughed.

Sarah laughed as well and together we ran towards the sea. The sand leaked into my shoes and I felt how truly warm it was. She stopped right at the water and just stared at the waves that rolled in on the beach and stopped just a couple of inches before her. She turned her gaze on me and I nodded, beaming as my little sister hesitantly took her first step out in the water.  
She giggled and took a few more which left her nearly two meters out in the clear water.  
"Come on; Ellie, it's warm!"

I inhaled deeply and waded towards her in the sea. I gasped as the warm water hit my ankles but kept walking as Sarah looked at me.

"Amazing", I whispered.

"But how can it be this warm in England?" Sarah wonder when I stood beside her.

"I don't know, sweetie, but it's pretty nice, huh?"

"Yes!" she giggled.

She turned away from me and I looked away to the horizon. I was cut out of my thoughts as I felt water splashing on my back.

"What the…?" I spun around and watched as the squealing sister of mine made her way away from me.

"No, you didn't…!" I growled playfully and darted of after her.

When I got close enough I put my hands in the water and splashed it on her back.  
She turned around and I laughed at her astonished face and splashed again. And so begun our first water fight.

Mid through I suddenly got to think about something. My hand rose to my neck and then dropped suddenly. I gasped and froze for a moment before I grabbed Sarah's hand and dragged her towards the beach again.

"Come on."

"Ellie! What's wrong?" she gasped as we got to the beach.

I didn't answer. My eyes darted across the beach until they found the place I searched for.

"The locket…" I murmured as I smiled reassuringly to Sarah and made my way to the place that we had woken up on.

"What locket?" she asked, confused.

"Grandmas."

"Oh, have you lost it?"

"Um, I don't really know, Sarah. Let's go see if we can find it", I said.

"Okeydokey."

I almost laughed by relief when we reached the spot and I saw it lying there. I bent down to take it and -

"Stop right there!" someone roared.

I froze, startled.

"Ellie…?" Sarah tugged on my arm, sounding terrified, and I slowly rose again.

What I saw next almost made me faint. In front of us stood four large wolves, teeth bared, scowling at us. I quickly looked around for the person that had spoken, but found no one.

"You can't escape", one of the wolves barked, misunderstanding the way I looked around. Of course I couldn't escape, I mean, who could outrun a wolf?  
Wait a second… _the wolf said that?_

"Wait a second…!" I whispered.

"No talking!" another wolf barked.

"Oh my _Lord!"_ I gasped, but suddenly understanding my mistake as the wolves before us began to growl in a low, threatening way. I clamped my hand across my mouth and by and by habit I said a low "sorry".

Ellie elbowed me hard in the hip, for it was only that far she could reach.  
One wolf moved forward a bit, growling even louder.  
"Shut_ up!_" It roared.

Okay, so now comes the moment, and I'm not very proud of it, that I… well, let's just say I snapped. All the feelings that I had stuck inside me; hurt, loss, pain, anger… they suddenly got uncontrollable and I couldn't keep them at bay any longer.

"Shut up? _Shut up?_ Is that the best you got? Huh?" I practically fumed. No one told me to _'shut up'_! "Well, how about this; you leave me and my sister the hell alone and then you shut up! I don't care if you think you're scary with all that growling and baring teeth at us, 'cause you know what? You're not scarier than the squirrel in the backyard at home, and that says a lot, 'mister' wolf. You're not scaring me! Well, run away then! Go find a mosquito to eat or something. Or do you think you just can come threating me and _my sister _that way? I've been through things that you probably can't even imagine, _wolf_, so don't think that you can come here and boss me around! Do you get that? _Huh?_"

I realized that I had stepped forward again and I quickly picked up the locket and stared coldly at the speechless but fuming wolves. I had just securely placed it around my neck before one of the wolves, the one that told me to 'shut up', pounced forward and landed on me, front paws on my shoulders. I fell backwards and I heard Sarah gasp as I hit the ground.

"Nobody compares me to a squirrel! You get that, human? Nobody!" it barked at my face.

I just smirked. "Oh really? But I just did, didn't i?"

It growled again and I felt its claws digging into the bare skin on my shoulders. Ouch.  
I winced but didn't say anything as the wolf glared down at me.

"Jacks, come on. Let the humans go. We have to be back at the palace by nightfall to report, we have to hurry!" one of the other wolves growled.

Jacks got of me angrily and I quickly got up. Sarah laced her fingers through mine and whimpered as Jacks glared at her.

"But we can't just let them go!" he barked.

The other three wolves looked at us for a little while before they decided.

"We'll bring them with us."

Jacks growled.

"It's the best thing to do. We can't decide this, we have to let the Kings and Queens do that and you know it, Jacks", a grey wolf said through gritted teeth.

The large wolf beside me sighed and coldly glared at me. "You better not try anything, humans."

"Wait a second!" I said loudly. "We're not going anywhere! And who are those 'Kings and Queens'? I mean, where the hell are we, anyway? This doesn't look like England at all!"  
It really didn't look like England, it was much too tropical.

The wolves looked at each other with confusion.

"England?" the grey wolf asked. "This is Narnia!" 

**Review is love…**

So, what did you think? They are finally in Narnia!


	3. Chapter 2

**Hi!**

And, well, I figured that to make things more interesting Edmund, Lucy and Eustace never left Narnia when they got to Aslan's Kingdom with Reepicheep the mouse. In this story they actually traveled back with Caspian to the shores of Narnia and… haha cliffhanger! xD

Sorry if this change upset someone.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing in this story… unfortunately… 

**.:CHAPTER TWO: AT THE SHORES OF NARNIA:.**

"Narnia?" I asked, confused. "But there is no such thing!"

"Well, yes, is it", the grey wolf said. It seemed like he was the friendliest of them, and probably the leader too. The others seemed to listen to him. "You are_ in_ Narnia now, silly girl."

"But…" I said, but decided to play along. _Maybe this is a dream_, I thought to myself. "Then how did I get here? I fell asleep in England last night."

The wolves shrugged.

"It has to be that locket…" I muttered.

"What?" Sarah whispered.

"Grandma's locket. I opened it last night and then I blanked out. Then we woke up here; it's really strange…"

"And on top of that we have met some crazy wolves that talks and claims we're in a place called Narnia. Never heard of it. It probably lies in Asia… Nah, wait a second, the climate isn't right… maybe somewhere in Caribbean? Man, I'm going crazy too! I'm probably still sleeping…" I continued in a low voice, muttering to myself.

The wolves looked at each other and rolled their eyes dramatically.

"Did you know that the first sign of a person being crazy is that they're talking to themselves?" one wolf asked, amused by my rambling.

"Yeah, I'm definitely crazy", I said with a sigh.

"You're not crazy, Ellie, I hear them too!" Sarah said with a small smile and grabbed my hand.

"What, you don't have talking animal in… um… Ingsland…?" the grey wolf asked.

"England", I corrected. "And no, we don't. At least I don't think so. But I've never been outside Selby so it-"

"Selby?" the grey wolf asked and I heard the other wolves chuckle slightly. Yeah, you heard me right. The wolves _chuckled. _

"Well, yeah. We live there", Sarah said.

"Do you, little girl? How come you've got to Narnia then?

"I don't know!" I cried. "I've got no idea at all how we got here. I touched that stupid piece of wood inside that stupid locket and then all of a sudden, we woke up here!"

"Let me see that locket", the wolf demanded, suddenly very serious.

I hesitantly pulled it over my head and handed it to him.  
The wolves looked at me like I was stupid.

"I've got no hand, you know. Put it on the ground, and open it, please."

I did as he told me while the wolves eyed me carefully. The grey wolf looked on it, then sniffed carefully on it and then froze and looked up at me with big eyes.

"Now we definitely have to take them to the palace!" the grey wolf exclaimed.

"Yeah", the other ones agreed.

"Wait, what? Why can't anyone tell me what the hell is going on here?" I felt like I was beginning to snap again. This place definitely wasn't good for me. Usually I could keep my anger at bay, but I think I'll blame it on the whole I'm-a-wolf-and-I-talk-and-lives-in-some-crazy-country-that-doesn't-even-exist-thing.

"What's going on is that we are ordered to report anything strange or suspicions things that we see, and that you, girl, are just plain strange. We have to take you and the little one to the palace", the grey wolf answered.

"What 'palace'?" Sarah asked, fascinated.

"Cair Paravel, of course."

"Oh…"

Then I found myself and Sarah being led across the beach and through a deep forest by the wolves.

"We'll never get to the palace in time!" Jacks growled after a while, irritated by our slow walk.

"Well excuse me!" I muttered and stared darkly at him.

The big grey wolf walked beside me and I could feel his eyes on me.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"What?"

"The wounds on your shoulders."

"What wounds…?" I asked, but quickly quieted when I saw the small wounds that were the marks of Jacks claws. My shirt had been bloodied, but it didn't seem to bleed anymore. It looked far worse than it actually was. "Oh, no, I don't even feel it", I assured him.

The wolf just nodded and we continued in silence for a little while.

"Do you have a name, too? I mean, that one has one…" I said after a while, discreetly pointed at Jacks.

The grey wolf looked slightly offended, but he answered none the less.  
"Of course I do! I'm Zirth."

"Oh, I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to be rude or anything. Um… I'm Eleonora", I said quickly.

"Nice to meet you, Eleonora", the wolf said, clearly amused by my quick apology.

"So, Zirth, we're are we going exactly?"

"To Cair Paravel, the mighty palace from which the Kings and Queens of Narnia rules. Unfortunately we might have to walk in right under a banquet… I believe this little problem which involves you and the other human is of quite importance, little one", Zirth answered.

"A banquet?" I questioned, the misbelief clear in my voice.

"Yes."

"What for?" I asked, as curious as ever.

"Don't you… Oh, how foolish of me; of course you don't know. You see, our King, King Caspian, has finally arrived from his long journey and with him also King Edmund and Queen Lucy, two of the great Kings and Queens of old. You must have heard about them, eh?"

"Um… no, should I?"

"Well, yes, they are a big part of the narnian history. We still have a bit to walk until we get to the palace, let me tell you…"

And so the great wolf Zirth told me all about the Kings and Queens of old, about Aslan, Jadis the white witch and the invasion.

"Oh, those telmarines sounds terrible", I stated as he finished the story.

"Yes, Eleonora, they were. But as it is today it's not so bad. Everyone here follows the law, as well as the other narnians."

"Oh, please, Zirth, call me Ellie, otherwise it sounds so formal."

The wolf nodded, but said no more and I was left with my own thoughts.  
Sarah by my side had listened intensely to everything the wolf had to say, but now she was tired and I could feel her grow tired. Her small feet wasn't used to walk this much and I stopped for a moment to pick her up as she yawned tiredly and tugged at my jumper.  
Jacks, who walked just behind us, growled.  
"Keep walking!"

"She's tired, stupid!" I said sharply. "She can't walk any further. I'll have to carry her."

I hoisted her up on my hip and she snuggled happily against my shoulder as she yawned a second time.  
"Ellie, I'm tired", she whispered.

"Then go to sleep, sweetie. I'll wake you up as soon as we get to the palace", I murmured and smiled at her sleepy expression.

"Promise?"

"Pinky promise", I said and laced my pinky through hers.

She smiled weakly and then drifted off to sleep, completely oblivious about the worries that ran through my mind at the moment. Where were we exactly and how would we ever get out of here, especially with the gigantic wolves guarding us?

About an hour later we got to a road. I was so tired and my arms hurt; I wasn't used to carry so much and Sarah's weight was an uncomfortable burden to bear.  
Zirth seemed to notice my pained and tired expression.  
"It's not very far from here. Just another fifteen minutes or so", he assured me.

I nodded, but kept quiet. _  
This is quite funny_, I thought. _They are so very unlike us in so many things, but they still count the time the same way!_

I looked curiously at our surroundings as we walked. It was clear that we got closer and closer to the palace. We had already passed one small village, but we just walked pass it so I didn't got to see so much about it. The houses had been small and built in stone and the roofs were made of some kind of straw I didn't recognize. I also saw beautiful flowers in the backyards; red, purple, blue and yellow, every color you could imagine. It looked like the perfect village from a fairytale, peaceful and calm. I have to say I got kind of confused when I didn't see any people outside. It was a truly beautiful day, why stay inside?  
I asked Zirth about it but the big wolf didn't answer, he just kept his eyes on the road ahead of us and plain out ignored me. I thought about this as we continued further on our way to the palace, but didn't get more than perhaps three or four minutes before I felt Sarah stir.

"What is it, baby girl?" I wondered softly.

Her big, grey eyes looked up at me; she smiled a goofy smile and yawned. I laughed softly at this and I saw Zirth roll his eyes. Then Sarah looked past me and her eyes went huge.

"Oh! Look Ellie; it's the castle!" she exclaimed loudly.

"It's a palace", Zirth corrected.

"'s no difference!" she huffed and the grey wolf chuckled quietly.

I turned around and saw the most amazing sight I've ever seen in my whole life. Cair Paravel was placed on a large cliff and the waves rolled in softly at the beach at least fifty meters below the great building. The entire palace seemed to have been built only with a glittering, white and marble-like stone that shimmered and glowered in the warm light of the sun. A couple of banners swayed softly in the soft wind and a few towers reached up high towards the darkening sky. It was almost twilight and it created a mystical feeling.

"Oh my…" I whispered.

"Cair Paravel", Zirth proudly stated. "Almost as majestic and beautiful as the original."

"The original?" I dreamily asked.

"Yes, girl, don't you remember what I told you? The Telmarines destroyed it, but the narnians have rebuilt it."

"Oh…"

I continued to stare on the beautiful palace while we got closer and closer to it and Sarah dozed off on my shoulder again. I smiled down at her kissed her softly on the head as she nuzzled closer to me, but then quickly lifted my gaze to the magnificent building, trying to memorize it.

When we got to the huge gates that lead straight into Cair Paravel Zirth ordered us to stop. I had seen an even bigger entrance with guards and everything, but Zirth assured me that it would be easier this way. 'The less people who sees you the better', he had told me.  
"Halt!" the big grey wolf beside me growled.  
Everyone, including me, stopped immediately.  
He turned to me and looked skeptically at Sarah who was still asleep in my arms.

"You'll have to wake her up, you know."

"Perhaps, but I'll do it when it's absolutely necessary, she'll be so tired if we'll wake her up now. Let's just let her sleep as long as possible", I swallowed as I stared up at then massive gates. The had to be at least five or six meters high.

The wolf nodded seriously. "It's probably better that way. But you must know that we'll come in the middle of a quite large banquette. There will be a lot of noble men and women in the palace, but we'll try to sneak you and your sister in. Try not to draw attention to yourselves, please."

I nodded.

"Good, we'll present you to the Kings and Queens tomorrow."

I took a deep breath and the massive gates swung open, revealing beautiful furniture and servants running everywhere. Golden walls, red curtains, stairs… I couldn't describe it to you if I tried, it was so _much._ You'll have to imagine yourselves.  
I gasped and my jaw literally dropped to the floor.  
"Oh my…!" I whispered.

"You tend to say that a lot", Zirth teased.

I blinked a few times and then got to my senses again and quickly closed my mouth. Some servants stopped a millisecond to stare, and I mean _stare_, at me and I looked self-consciously down at my clothes. They were torn, dirty and a bit bloody as well and my hair was a mess. I blushed and walked along Zirth through the room.

I decided it was time to wake Sarah up again, it would only be a matter of minutes anyway until she woke up of all this noise.  
"Sarah… Sarah, honey, you have to wake up know", I murmured and released my grip on her a bit as she groggily opened her eyes.

"Where are we, Ellie?" she asked.

I put her down on the ground and she looked around with wide eyes.  
"We are at the palace, sweetie."

"Oh."

"Come on, we have to walk a bit more", I said while grabbing her hand in mine. She quickly laced her fingers though mine and pressed herself at me as a servant almost tripped over her.

"Okeydokey."

We walked through another door and up and down a couple of stairs. Then something bad happened.

"Ellie! Ellie, look, it's a monkey!" Sarah exclaimed and pointed at a large, golden monkey that ran through the room we just passed. Her eyes shone with excitement. She ripped her small hand from mine and darted of after it. Did I mention that my sister had an obsession with moneys? Weird, I know…

"_Sarah, no_! Come back!" I shouted, panicked as she quickly rounded the corner after the monkey.

I ran after her, determined not to lose her in this confusingly big castle.  
"_Sarah_!" I yelled again, but she didn't listen.

I heard the wolves run after me, growling.

"I knew it was a bad thing to bring them into the castle", Jacks growled. Zirth just barked for an answer, silencing the other wolf, clearly irritated with Jacks.

I pushed my body to the limit, yet I couldn't catch my little sister before she ran into a large hall. I ran in after he, just seconds after and got to her before she could take more than two or three steps into the room.

"Oh, you silly girl", I muttered as I hoisted her up in my arms again and securely placed her at my hip. Then I looked up, expecting another empty room.

_Boy, I was wrong._

We were in the _ballroom_. The bloody BALLROOM. The thing we avoid. Yeah… you get it.  
The dancing people around us stopped dancing and stared at us, just like the servants when we entered the castle. The women had beautiful dresses and the men all had strange, but good-looking, clothes that looked very expensive. There were so many persons in one single room. On the walls hung swords and shields and the entire room was more beautiful than any other room we had passed so far. I had never seen such a thing in my whole life.

"Oh, shit…!" I whispered and looked around in panic.  
The wolves stood right behind me, Jacks shook his head disapprovingly.

"Did I do something wrong?" Sarah asked quietly.

"Shh, we'll talk later, darling", I whispered in her ear.

I slowly backed out of the ballroom, but the Zirth stopped me before I could turn and run.

"Your majesties", he said loudly and looked straight into the room. Only then I noticed the three persons sitting on three large thrones in the back of the room. One of them where an adult and his aristocratic features clearly showed that he was of noble birth. He nodded calmly to the wolf. The other one was a girl who looked like she was about 13-14 years old or so, and she smiled warmly at us. The third was a boy; his black hair stood out in the dim light than shone into the room through thick windows and his dark eyes bored themselves into mine as I looked at him.  
"Your majesties", Zirth repeated. "We found these two girls wandering around at the shores of Narnia."

**Review is love…**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello, all of you who's been reading this story; I know that there's quite a lot of you. I have to say I'm really excited to see that so many is reading it and because of the many mails I've gotten those few days from fanfiction saying that 'someone have put this on his/hers favorite list' I think that some of you actually enjoyed it too. :)  
But I don't know what you really think about it, as I can't read your mind, so if you could please just review it once you've read it I would be overly joyed. :D**

Well enough of this, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing in this...  


**.:CHAPTER THREE: HELLO, I'M FROM ENGLAND:.**

Now all the people in the room, and it had to be hundreds of them, looked at me and Sarah. Great. I wished for once that I could disappear, that I had some sort of magical powers that allowed me to become invisible.  
I stared horrified at Zirth, but he just smirked at me. My eyes went wide and I slowly inhaled as I understood that he didn't plan to let me escape out of this room, just as I wished to do. He nudged me forward with his nose and I had two choices; to fall down to the ground and humiliate myself even more, or just take a simple step forward. I took one single, hesitant step towards the three regents and glared coldly down at the big grey wolf that now had trotted up beside me. I looked around, only to find the closest 'noble' persons, a.k.a. the lady's in the beautiful gowns and the men beside them, stare at me with disgust written clearly in their faces. Two women stood with their heads close to each other and it was quite obvious that they were whispering about me, as they both looked me up and down as if I was a mouse the cat had dragged in. I realized that I probably looked like it as well. Blushing I made my way through the isle that led to the three regents beside Zirth, but I kept my head high and didn't even glance to the sides again.

Sarah squirmed in my grasp, but I just secured my grip on her as she tried to get down to the floor.  
"Not know, Sarah", I murmured and she nodded and sighed.

"Who are all these peoples?" she whispered.

"Dunno", I whispered back, smiled softly and shrugged.

Zirth led us all the way over to the thrones. I then realized that there were actually five thrones. The man sat on one of them, which was a bit on the side, while the other two sat on another two which was accompanied with two other, empty, thrones. _That's a bit weird_, I thought. _Perhaps the other two persons are somewhere else?_  
This really didn't make sense to me, but did anything nowadays? I had been confused out of my mind since we first woke up on this strange place and it didn't seem to go any better for me and my brain at this place which I-

I quickly shook my head when I realized that someone was talking to me.

"…doing here?" the man on the throne asked. I heard with interest how he had a strange funny accent, almost like one of the men that used to visit the orphanage. I just couldn't remember his name… Andrew… Andreas… André! There it was; his name had been André, André Fernando, I think…  
Oh, gosh, I forgot they were talking to me… again! I really have to stay focused; I swear this place was playing with my mind…  
Sarah tugged urgently at my jumper and I blinked a few times, embarrassed.

"Um… pardon?" I said feeling my face heat up once again as I asked the man to repeat himself.

The three of them looked at each other and he spoke again, louder this time.  
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Yeah, he definitely had an accent…  
"I…I'm Eleonora and this is Sarah, my sister", I said loudly, not wanting them to ask me to repeat myself. I could just imagine how embarrassing _that_ would be! "And… well, you see, I don't know what we're doing here… um, sire." _How the hell do you address a king?_ That was one thing I hadn't been taught at the orphanage… "We fell asleep in England and woke-"

The boy on the other throne, the one with the dark hair, quickly cut me off.  
"_England?"_ he breathed.

"Well, yeah", I said and unconsciously rolled my eyes. I just said so, didn't I?

He stood up and looked pointedly at the girl at his side. The girl rose gracefully and her eyes sparkled as she smiled gently at me. The man followed their example and turned to the people in front of him.  
"If you would excuse us for a second", he said to the people that still where staring at us and walked out of the room with long strides.

I looked confused at Zirth, who still stood at my side.  
"Did I say something wrong?" I asked.

He just shrugged and motioned with his head that I should follow the exiting King. The other regents stood in front of their thrones, looking at us. I slowly walked out after the King and watched how the other followed us. The whispers grew louder and some of the people that we passed on our way out again looked at me with something that strange enough looked like fear in their eyes as I passed. I noticed how everyone grew quiet as the two behind us walked by.

When we got out of the ballroom everyone, including me and Sarah, went straight ahead and walked through another door, which lead us to a smaller, less scary room. Zirth followed us inside it, but the other wolves stayed outside and guarded the door. When we got inside it the man quickly locked the door and everyone turned to look at me. Oh, Lord. This didn't look good. What on earth had I got myself into?

No one talked. Everyone stared at me, except Sarah and Zirth. No, they just looked. I began to feel just a little bit self-conscious again…

"Who are you people?" Sara asked after a while, breaking the silence.

I didn't know if I should feel embarrassed of my little sisters question or not, but I settled for grateful, because that was the question I wanted to ask to, I just didn't dare to.

The man blinked twice and I heard Zirth chuckle quietly beside us.  
The girl broke the awkward silence.

"I am Lucy the Valiant, Queen of Narnia", she said and smiled again. It was a warm, gentle smile. I looked a little closer at the girl. Her deep brown hair reached a bit below her shoulders and she was quite petite.. Her eyes were a deep brown color and they sparkled in the dim light from the windows. Her long, green dress had silver embroideries and the silver band on top of her head clearly proved that she truly was royalty. She even moved with such grace that it was quite impossible to think that she was just an ordinary girl.  
I decided I liked this girl so far.

"Are you a real queen?" Sarah asked, eyes wide and curious.

"Yes, I am", she asked, clearly amused.

Lucy looked at the boy beside her and cleared her throat discreetly.  
He looked at her quizzically, and then remembered.

"I am Edmund the Just, King of Narnia", he presented himself with a nod. He seemed a bit distant, almost as if he wasn't with us in this very room. His dark eyes were locked on me and Sarah and he didn't even blink as he studied us carefully. His equally dark hair hung in his face and shadowed his eyes. His long shape was well muscled, even though I figured he was about my age, perhaps a year older or so. But his eyes seemed to be much older, almost as if he had seen things that no teenager should have seen, King or not. They bored themselves into me and I swore he could see right into my soul. I forced my eyes from his face and noticed a long sword hung that on his hip. His hand never seemed to be very far from it and he hovered protectly over his little sister, for I could see they were indeed siblings. _He doesn't trust us_, I understood quickly.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"And I am King Caspian, the tenth", the man said and unconsciously straightened out a bit.

- So yeah, if we just take a break and summaries it all; I, the orphan and my little sister, were surrounded by royalties. Nervous and a bit confused? Yes… but just a little bit… -

"So, you said that you found these girls at the shores of Narnia, Zirth", Caspian said.

"Yes, sire", the big wolf answered.

"But how did you find them?" the King questioned.

"Well, we were patrolling the northern territories, looking for giants, just as You asked us to, sire. The, when we was on our way back to the castle to rapport back to You, we just ran into these two."

"Oh, well, did you see any giants back there? I'm quite sure they must have crossed the border by now…?" Caspian said, interested.

"Your majesty, the pack didn't see any giants, though we saw a few large footprints that could have been-" Zirth explained, but got cut off by no other than the boy with the dark hair who were standing impatiently at the left of Caspian with his arms crossed.

"Caspian, cut the small talk, please. We perhaps can finish this conversation somewhere else, somewhere a little more private…" he said while looking at me and Sarah with his eyebrow raised.

Caspian nodded quietly and didn't pick up the conversation again.

"So, Eleonora, was it?" Edmund continued and I nodded silently. "You said that you and your sister was from England, is that correct?" I nodded again, and I couldn't help but hear the curious edge in his voice.

"Where in England did you live?" Lucy chimed in.

"Um… Selby, why?" I asked, as confused as ever.

Lucy quieted at this and looked slightly confused. Edmund continued where his sister left.

"We lived in England too. In London."****

Review is love…

When I wrote this chapter I kind of wondered a thing:_** would you who read this want me to post shorter chapters and update more, or would you want me to write the chapters longer and update less frequently?  
**_**Send me a review or something and let me know, please. :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi again!**

I am so sorry for the late update, but school started and so on… Hope you'll forgive me ;)

This chapter is probably the shortest so far, but you guys asked for shorter updates more frequently… though it wasn't very quick, I know…

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or anything you might recognize from the books/movies. I just own Eleonora and Sarah.

Enjoy!  


**.:CHAPTER FOUR: THE KINDNESS OF A QUEEN:.**

I just stared at them, dumbfounded, for a moment. From England as well?

"W… what?" I mumbled incoherently.

"I'm sorry?" the young Queen said. "I didn't quite catch that…?"

Oh, god. I blushed and my cheeks grew all red, I swear, I must have looked pathetic. I gathered up all my braveness and lifted my gaze from the ground to look the queen in the eye.  
"From England? But how did you end up here, as Kings and Queens?"" I said rather quickly, but at least I talked loud enough for them to hear me this time.

"That's a quite long story, dear", she said, amused. "We'll take it some other time. Here at Cair Paravel, we always got time for a good story, but I'm afraid that now is not the time."

I just nodded. Why was I like this? Wasn't I always the brave one, the one who could handle the abuse at the orphanage? And here I was, standing like an blabbering idiot and couldn't even get one single sentence to pass my lips. But then, there was this dark haired king who wouldn't stop looking my way with a weary glance. I wasn't dangerous, okay?

"But," king Caspian said, "you just said your first name, Eleonora. What is the name of your father?"

I merely stared. My father's name? Why would he want to know that?

"Oh, Caspian…" the queen, Lucy, chuckled, clearly as amused as ever. "Don't you remember how I told you that the last-name-thing isn't working the same way as in Narnia?"

"Oh, um… I kind of forgot that…" he said sheepishly.

"But what is your last name, anyway?" Queen Lucy said curiously.

"I… my last name is Richards", I said.

"Mine too!" Sarah beamed. "But Ellie, I'm tired. I wanna go down"; she whined.

I turned my attention to the little girl in my arms. She was once again getting really heavy, but I didn't think I should let her down here.

"No, baby girl, you cannot walk by yourself now. But you can fall asleep on my shoulder, like before, would you want that?" I whispered.

"Okeydokey…" she muttered, clearly not very pleased. I was very happy that she didn't make a fuss out of it.

Zirth sighed and when I swiftly turned my gaze to him I saw him roll his eyes.

"Oh, my!" the Queen suddenly said. "I am sure that you are both very tired. We should get a chamber ready for you and your sister to sleep in. Would you mind following me?"

She didn't wait for my answer, but simply walked towards the doors. She took my hand while bypassing and I almost dropped Sarah in surprise.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To get to the kitchens, of course. I'm sure that you are both very hungry; you've had an awfully hard day, after all. Am I right, Eleonora?"

"Yes, Queen Lucy", I mumbled, startled by her hospitality. I was just a lost little girl; she was a Queen, for crying out loud!

"Oh, call me Lucy, dear. Otherwise it will be so formal", she corrected me.

My eyes widened. Wasn't that the way to speak to royalties, or had I gotten it all wrong? I mean, how would I know? I hadn't met anyone before…!  
I nodded carefully, almost expecting her to turn around and tell me it was all a joke. I mean, how many monarchs would want their guests to call them by their first name. Wasn't it strange; we met just 10 minutes ago, and I can't say I made an great first impression by ruin their ball, and we were already on first name basis?

"Come on…!" the Queen said impatiently and dragged me by my arm out of the room. I almost lost my hold on Sarah again, but decided to keep her in my arms. I wouldn't want to lose her in this big castle.

"Where are we going?" Sarah whined.

"To the kitchens, sweetie. Queen Lucy is going to give us some food", I answered my little sister.

Sarah looked up at me. "I am very hungry", she announced loudly. "Kitchen is good."

"Yes, Sarah, but after that we're going to bed."

"No! I don't want to!"

"But you said you were really tired just a few moments ago", I said and my sister's lips turned into an adorable pout.

"Did not!" she stated firmly.

I stiffed a girlish giggle and rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say, baby girl."

I saw Lucy smile warmly at me from a few meters in front of us.  
"I'll tell the servants to fix a room for you both to sleep in", she said.

"I don't want to sleep!" Sarah exclaimed, louder this time.

"Oh, but even princesses have to sleep sometimes", I assured her, since my little sister had an obsession with not only monkeys, but princes and princesses too.

"Are you sure?" she asked with frown.

"Sarah, they do. I know a lot of princesses and they sleep all the time, just like everybody else", Lucy said with an amused expression on her petite face.

"Are you sure?" Sarah repeated, not convinced.

"Oh, yes, I am quite sure of it", Lucy said. "I am a queen; don't you think I ought to know a few princesses?"

Sarah didn't answer that, but her face scrunched up as she yawned.

"Oh, dear, do you think we should go straight to your chambers instead?" Lucy said worriedly.

"No, its fine. I think she'll want some food first", I said quietly.

"And you?" Lucy asked and raised one eyebrow.

"What about me?" I asked, a bit confused.

"What do you want, Eleonora? You're only talking about what you little sister wants so do, but never once have you said what you want."

"Oh, but I want to do the same as her… I guess…" I said, biting my lip in confusion. It had always occurred natural that I would put her need in the first place.

"Eleonora?" Lucy sighed. "What do _you_ want?"

"I don't know!" I suddenly exclaimed. My harsh tone did even surprise me. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but I really don't know. I don't even know if this is a dream or not…" I drifted of and sighed.

"Oh, Eleonora, it's not a dream, I can assure you", Lucy said with a small smile. "I understand what you're going though at the moment. We, myself and my three siblings went through just this a couple of years ago."

"Three siblings?" I asked, surprised, but then remembered the story Zirth told me on the way here.

"Yes, there were four of us the first time we entered Narnia. Peter, the Magnificent. Susan, the Gentle. Edmund, the Just and me; Lucy the Valiant."

While she spoke I noticed how Sarah had drifted off to sleep again on my shoulder. My own eyes were heavily lidded by sleep. I guess travelling between worlds had that effect on you.

"Oh… ok", I said a bit distant. "But where are the other two?"

"Peter and Susan are back home. They couldn't come this time, since they'd become too old and didn't have anything else to learn from Narnia", she told me and her otherwise so happy expression grew a tad bit sad. I guessed that she missed them.

I nodded in comprehension and shifted Sarah's weight on my hip. She mumbled slightly and scrunched up her face in her sleep, but didn't wake up.

Lucy waved over a servant and I watched it was it walked over to us. The creature had a man's body, but its legs looked like a goats. _Strange_, I though distantly and eyed it up and down. _It_ seemed to be male and when I noticed the small beard on its chin I figured it was most definitely male. _He _had greyish hair and was quite short.

"Could you please make sure that a room will be set up for those girls?" Lucy asked him kindly.

"Of course, Your Majesty", the creature said and bowed deeply before retreating in to another room. I guessed he rushed off to do what Queen Lucy asked him to do.

We walked though several beautiful rooms and corridors. Lucy kept chatting happily and didn't mind that I didn't answer most of the times. Everything moved as in a haze, the shapes of the servants blurred together and the colors seemed to change before my eyes. I didn't realize I was this tired before…  
When we finally got to the kitchens I had stumbled about four times, but managed to keep myself on my feet because of the adorable girl in my arms. Lucy opened the doors to the massive kitchen and in a matter of two seconds we were surrounded by servants. In no time at all I was sitting at a table with Sarah in my knee with a plate full of delicious looking food in front of me. I was carefully trying to wake her up as Lucy waved of the servants and sat down on a chair across the table.

"Sarah? Sarah, you need to wake up now, sweetie", I mumbled and pushed her soft hair from her face. She really did look like an angel while sleeping and it hurt a bit to wake her up.

She stirred and looked up at me with heavy lidded eyes, still a bit unfocused.  
"I had such a strange dream, Ellie!" she mumbled into my shirt with a yawn. "I dreamed that animals could talk!"

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So, what did you think of it? ^^


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys!**

**I'm so so sorry about the late update, but I've had many exams and I had to keep my thoughts on the school a lot of the time… sorry! I know that you asked for quicker updates, but I just don't get the time to write anymore. But as I'm on holiday now I think that one more chapter can be up in a short matter time. :)**

**Your reviews really made my day and I'm so happy that you guys like this story so far. Please, tell me if there is something you think I should do different, or if you have any ideas about where I should take this story. I want to hear what you think should happen! I haven't made up the entire plot yet, so feel free to give me some tips about this. **

**Anyway, here's the chapter! Enjoy :)**

Disclaimer: No… I don't own Narnia…

**.:CHAPTER FIVE: IS THIS REAL?:.**

_I was on a beach. The sand seemed warm beneath my bare feet and a soft breeze gently tousled my hair. The sun shone high on the sky and there were no clouds to be seen. Small waves rolled softly into the beach and made small sounds as they connected with the sand._

The great lion came towards me and his golden mane shone slightly in the warm light. His dark eyes were kind and full with warmth. His pawns didn't seem to touch the sand as he walked towards me. The big cat moved gracefully and his fur seemed as though it was actually made of pure gold. I felt a sudden urge to just lean out and touch it, but it didn't seem as something you should do. The magnificent lion got closer and I watched as it sat down next to me.  
We just sat there and watched the beautiful landscape for a couple of minutes before he spoke.

"Daughter of Eve", he begun in a purring, comforting voice. "You don't yet know why I have called you, but I can tell you don't enjoy Narnia…?"

"Oh no, I really do like it here", I assured him. "I just don't know if this is reality. I don't want to get my hopes up if this is only a dream."

"Dear, the Kings and Queens in Narnia are not a dream."

"But this is, isn't it?"

"It depends on who you ask, Eleonora Smith. But I would like to say that it is in the dreams that the best things happen. And who are you to tell if it's reality or not?"

I didn't say anything, I didn't need to.

"But what am I doing here?" I said after a while.

"That is up to you to figure out yourself, dear", the great lion said.

My vision blurred and suddenly I couldn't see the magnificent lion anymore.  


**oOo**

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. My eyes flew open and my whole body went rigid as I quickly sat up in the bed. Yeah. You heard me right, the _bed. _A nice, warm bed with a fluffy pillow and a soft blanket. _The past day hadn't been a dream, after all_, I thought to myself as I quickly scanned the room around me. The whole area was in red and gold, and even the curtains that covered the huge windows were in a deep, red color. The queen-sized bed stood in a corner of the large room and a bedside table stood beside it. Next to the bedside table stood a large, wooden wardrobe and on the floor was the most luscious carpet I had ever seen. It was red and several golden embroideries covered it. I couldn't wait to walk on it, to feel the soft material beneath my feet…  
Another nock ripped me out of my fantasies.

"Eleonora?" someone called from outside the door.

"Ellie…?" When I heard Sarah's voice from behind me I finally noticed the small body that pressed up against mine. "I think someone wants to come in", she whispered.

"Yeah, I think so too…" I began but got cut off as the door slowly opened and revealed Lucy outside the door. The girl slowly leaned in and smiled when she saw us.

"Oh, you're awake!" she sang. "I didn't want to wake you up, but you see, it's almost noon and I thought you would want some breakfast. And obviously you would want some clothing before you begin your tour in the castle…?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but the younger girl continued talking.

"I brought some dresses with me, would you please try them on? I think that they will fit; they are the same size as our older sister, Susan. Oh, and I absolutely adore the green one, it will bring out the brown of your eyes. Yes, you most definitely have to try it on…"

The young Queen continued chatting about the dresses and what a remarkable good weather it was today before a servant carefully nocked on the door.

"Willie, oh, do come in. Yes, you can lay the dresses there… perfect", she said and the servant bowed deeply before rushing of again.

"Come here", she said cheerfully.

I slowly rose from the bed and Sarah tiptoed after me as I made my way over to Lucy. She walked over to a small door and opened it, revealing another room with a large bathtub in the middle of it, filled with steaming water. Strange, I hadn't even noticed the door before.

"Sarah, dear, why don't you go and play with the toys over there?" Lucy asked.  
My little sister's eyes grew large as she took in the many toys in the corner of the room. Her jaw dropped and she looked up at me with questioning eyes.  
I nodded and she quickly let go of my hand and ran over to the toys. It was one thing that I never had been able to give her, one thing that she never has had and I felt how tears welled up in my eyes as I watched her happiness. Dolls and small, plastic animals… it was my little sister's own heaven.

"Thank you", I whispered to the girl beside me. I think she knew how truly grateful I was.

Lucy smiled slightly and nodded. "You're very welcome."

The queen sat next to me and told me a bit about her country as I slowly sank down in the bathtub. I felt the warm water rise around me and it was the most amazing feeling. If we ever got the chance to take a bath at the orphanage it was always cold and not very clean water in the bathtub, here it was plain heaven. I almost felt like a new person when I rose again, my hair smelling of roses from the soap and my skin scrubbed until it got all red. For the first time in many years I felt clean, without the dirt I was so used to in the orphanage. I wanted to stay in the tub a bit longer, but after Lucy had told me so much about Narnia I couldn't wait to see it myself, in daylight with no hovering danger. I couldn't wait to see the centaurs, the mermaids and the other strange creatures she told me about; I wanted to see all of it. She handed me a green dress which was so beautiful I barely could take my eyes from it. The sleeves would about reach my wrists, the skirt long and flowing. The color was a rich green shade that reminded me of the forest we had traveled through yesterday and the embroideries on it were in delicate silver.

"I'll just step outside so that you can change", Lucy said. She reached for Sarah and my little sister grabbed her hand and they walked out. Strange enough, I didn't feel worried about Sarah as she stepped outside the door and I couldn't see her anymore. I trusted the young queen, even though I had just known her for a couple of hours. When I had dried myself of I stepped into the dress. When I felt the soft material grace my skin I sighed and closed my eyes for a second. I thought about how this was so different from home. Was this even real at all or is this just a dream?

While looking around the small room I found a large mirror in a corner. I walked up to it. The girl in the mirror looked nothing like me. Her hair was clean and damp, blonde curls hung around her face. The once dirty hair now hung in shining waves down her back. I never knew it was _that_ long. Her face was pale, but seemed to be more alive than before. Her cheeks were slight rosy still from the bath, though it was still the same pale shade it had been in England. Her chocolate brown eyes stared back at me, the confusion and suspect clear in them. Her worried expression was well-known from the many years in the orphanage.  
The dress, though, was the most amazing piece of clothing I had ever seen, more beautiful than the dresses that the ladies in the ballroom wore. It really did fit perfectly. I couldn't believe that the girl in the mirror was me she didn't look like the same person as in England. There was something about her appearance that seemed different.

Just as I stood there and watched myself though the mirror a soft knock on the door ripped me out of my thoughts. I hurried though the room, ashamed that it had taken so much time for me to just dress. I opened the door and should just start to apologize as I noticed that it wasn't Lucy at the door. Her older brother, Edmund, stood outside the door. He looked at me, almost as if he was sizing me up, and I started to feel self-conscious.

"Oh… um, Your Majesty", I mumbled and studied my a crack in the marble floor _very _closely. _Should I curtsey? _I asked myself.

"Eleonora", he greeted.

I didn't know what else to say, so I kept quiet. After a few seconds I lifted my gaze. _I've got nothing to be afraid of, anyway, this is just a dream_, I reminded myself, but it did not comfort me like it did last night. My gaze travelled up to his face and I found it blank of emotions. His dark eyes seemed just as unreadable as before.

"Lucy sent me", he began as though this would explain everything.

"Sarah!" I mumbled under my breath and looked around, but my sister was nowhere to be seen. Had Lucy brought my little sister with her?

"Lucy went with your sister to fetch some food. Apparently Sarah was very hungry"; Edmund explained and I backed back down inside the room again. He followed after me with a guarded expression. I felt that it was rude to have him standing in the corridor; he was a king, for God's sake. "They went down to the kitchens and Lucy told me to come here to check on you."

_Couldn't she just have sent one of the servants? _I thought, confused by the queens actions.__

"I guess she could've, but she wanted one of us to show you around, since we've been through everything that you and your sister are going though at the moment", he said, clearly amused.

"Oh gosh… did I just say that out loud…?" I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah", he chuckled.

"Oh… right…" I said, feeling quite awkward.

"So how are you?" Edmund asked. "This can't be easy for you."

"Yeah, you got that right. I'm not feeling so good about this whole thing, though I'm physically feeling better than in a long time…" I trailed off and sighed again.

"What do you mean…?" he asked carefully when I didn't continue further.

"I… I don't want to talk about it", I whispered, not feeling comfortable enough with telling them about my childhood. And why should I, anyway?

"Oh, but when you want to talk, just ask for me, okay?" he said and graced me with a small smile. It was the first time I saw some kind of emotion behind the serious face. It was a comforting smile, a hint of a kindness greater than the young queen's, but it was gone before I could observe it more. I was slightly taken back by it, but smiled carefully back at him.

"I will remember that", I said quietly.

He nodded and looked around the room. "Do you like it here? I mean, do you feel comfortable with the whole "being in a new world" kind of thing? Is everything to your satisfaction here?"

I took a deep breath and tried to control my feelings. But his calm face and questioning eyes made it impossible to me and I let all of my doubt out. "Oh, no, I'm _so_ not comfortable with this! I woke up in this super strange place which you guys call Narnia and somehow animals can talk. A pack of wolves took me to this palace and then I suddenly befriended the four monarchs, who are not much older than me. I'm scared, alright? I don't know how I'm going to take care of Sarah. I don't even know if this is a dream or if I actually froze to death on that parch bench…" I whispered the last part and then trailed off with a sigh. I pressed my lips together as I felt hot tears well up in my eyes, clouding my vision. Perhaps I really did die, that day. Does that mean Sarah did too? I couldn't even imagine my happy little sister… frozen to death on that parch bench... I shut my eyes tightly to keep the tears from spilling over. I didn't want to show my weakness to the boy in front of me, I felt as if I had already told him too much. Perhaps I was naïve, but I couldn't hold it inside me any longer and I wanted to talk to someone. I didn't want to tell Lucy about my depressing thoughts, I didn't want to bring her down from her happy-clouds, but I felt as if I could tell Edmund. And his dark eyes showed that he did understand… that he was the right person to talk to about my problems and strange enough, I almost felt safe with telling him. _Safe_… a feeling I hadn't known for years.

**Review is love… :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hi again! :)**

Well, this is a new chapter…! It's not very long, probably the shortest so far, but I felt bad about keeping you waiting, and you asked for shorter chapters and more frequent updates, huh?

Oh, and I just discovered a few artists this week, and if you haven't checked them out already, I really suggest you do. First of all; NeverShoutNever. He's just awesome; I really like his personal style and his special songs. It really feels like he is just himself, something I truly miss in most artists today. Next up is John Mayer. He's not that special, but I really like his voice and melodies. This is two fairly strange artists for me to listen to, since I'm more into rock and such, but I really like them. Go check them out! :) I'm completely addicted to them!

_**NeverShoutNever – "BigCityDreams" or "This sh*t getz old"**_

John Mayer – "Clarity"****

Anyway, enough of this: here's the chapter! I hope that this chapter will clear things out a bit about what Eleonora had to endure in the years in the orphanage.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing in Narnia… I really don't.

Enjoy! :)

**.:CHAPTER SIX: CAIR PARAVEL:.**

King Edmund looked at me for a while. His eyes flickered across my face, searching for answers there. But he wouldn't find any; I had learned many years ago to rein in my feelings and to keep my face calm without showing a thing. It was a thing you had to do when you lived in the orphanage. A memory floated into my mind.

_The large woman looked at me for a brief second. Her calculating, steel grey eyes moved momentarily over mine and just for a moment I thought about running away. Running away from this hell, from this prison. But I couldn't. I could never ever escape this. The thought made me sad, but I knew it was the truth. I couldn't leave my baby sister here; I promised mum I would never leave her alone. Never ever. I couldn't even picture her here all alone, with no one to protect her from all the "bad" children here. And there were quite a few of them. The bunch of kids living here was just as mean as you would think an abandoned homeless child would be, completely without hope. No one here really had any hope left in the world; they knew that no one would ever adopt them. It was the uncomfortable truth, but everyone knew it. Most of them where criminals too and they even stole from each other. I couldn't leave Sarah with them. I wouldn't. I'd rather be in this hell a couple of years more, and what other option was there, really? I couldn't just run away to anywhere. I had to have a good plan, perhaps a job outside this and somewhere to live. I wasn't even close to find this. But then again, I could survive just a couple of years more of this. Then I could walk out in the world, get a job and be able to take care of Sarah. That was what I had in mind. Perhaps I could take a job as a maid, I could handle cleaning. It was better than this, anyhow. But here at the orphanage I still got food and somewhere to sleep, a chance to see a real teacher who helped you with your education. It was probably the best part, learning how to read and write, learning a bit about your history. Yes, history was my favorite subject. I found especially England's history fascinating; I wanted to learn my own country's history so that I could understand a bit more about the whole community. I hoped that it would help me finding a job sometime…  
I sighed as I waited on the slap I knew was coming. My eyes closed by themselves and the woman's hand made impact with my skin._

-SLAP-

It hurt, stung a little, but I was already used to it. You grew used to the slaps after just a couple of weeks, the pain I once winced at didn't bother me anymore, I just shut it out. But my mind screamed in humiliation each time she slapped me. I took a deep breath and didn't open my eyes as I knew that the other cheek would receive the same treatment.

-SLAP-

I let all air out again. Trying to keep my breathing steady.

"Eleonora", she snorted, almost as if I was just dirt under her feet. She probably thought I was. "There will be no more of this… this scandalous _**flirting**__! Oh, yes, my nephew told me all about it. How you basically jumped him." She snorted again and shook her head. "I knew you had it in you, and I bet your sister will be just the same."_

I bit my lip in frustration and anger, but didn't say anything. I knew it wasn't worth it. Another day without food, another day separated from Sarah. So therefore I just watched as the woman in front of me continued her parade.

"Next time this happened you will be kicked out, do you hear me?" she said.

I nodded curtly.

-SLAP-

"You will answer me in words, slut. Don't just stand there as a complete savage. Answer me", she growled.

"Yes, ma'am", I said, trying to rein in my anger and humiliation. Even so, my voice shook of emotions.

"I will keep my eyes on you", she hissed.

When she turned around I stalked of, angrily. My jaw was set and my hands balled as I tried not to scream out loud. How could she even think that what had happened was my fault? – It was all his _doing. It was he who had corned me in the corridor, he who had tried to force himself on me. Ok, so I slapped him. So what? It was the only way to get pass him, and it had worked the way I wanted it to. He had been so stunned by my slap that I had easily been able to sneak out of his reach and get away. I shut my eyes tightly and bit my lip, not caring that I drew blood. _

"What do you mean? What parch bench?" Edmund asked worriedly. I was ripped out of my thoughts, filled with memories, by his low voice.

I opened my eyes to find him looking at me, trying to read my expression. I knew that he couldn't. It was almost comforting, the fact that I knew that I was able to keep my emotions to myself. The King's eyes lingered on mine for a short second and I saw his dark orbs flicked in recognition. It scared me, the honesty I found there. My thoughts once more drifted back to the old house that had served as my home for the last few years and the people in it. They always had that insecure, defiant and suspicious look in their eyes, a look that often enough showed that they were lying. I was used to it. But this new thing caught me off guard.

I quickly closed my eyes again, fearing that I would tell him everything if I kept looking into his dark, comforting eyes any longer. They reminded me of a time long ago, a time of happiness. A time where my family had surrounded me, holding me close and whispering that they would never leave me. They had lied. Oh, they had lied about so many things. I remembered my mother's last words to me.

_"I'm so sorry, Eleonora. So sorry, I never meant it to be this way."_

I could barely keep my tears at distance as the memory filled my mind; her apologizing, painful eyes.

"Eleonora?" Edmund asked again, this time a little louder.

I took a deep, shaky breath before I was able to find my voice again.

"Yes", I replied.

"What park bench?" he asked again. I suddenly remembered his question before and I felt stupid not to answer it then. This place did some odd things with my memories; it was harder than before keeping them at distance.

"Oh… um, I'm sorry, I never meant for that to slip out…" I trailed off. "I – I really don't want to talk about it, if you wouldn't mind."

"Oh, of course not", he said, his dark eyes still searching my face. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

I lowered my eyes to the floor and tried to get the memories off my mind. I wouldn't break down in front of the Kings of Old himself, no, that would only happen if I were completely alone. Not even Sarah had seen me cry. I tried to compose myself as he continued speaking, pretending as if nothing had happened. I guess he wanted me to take my thoughts off the subjects that obviously made me so sad.

"So, Lucy asked me to give you a tour around the castle", he said.

"Oh."

"Would you like to join me?" the King asked and held out his arm for me. I guess you did that here, but I had never seen such a gesture before.

"That's very nice of you", I mumbled. I was unsure of what to do, so I just stood there awkwardly. "Umm…?"

He smiled a crooked smile, but I noticed how it never reached his eyes. They were still that dark, unmistakable careful and sad brown color that I had noticed the first time I saw him. What was it with this boy? Why was he so sad?

"Just put your arm here", he smiled and placed my arm on his elbow as he laced our arms together. I felt a strange tingling feeling where my skin touched his, but tried not to show it as I didn't want him to think of me as crazy. I couldn't help but notice his elegant sword that hung of his waist, but I choose not to think about it. I guess he wasn't comfortable enough with me that he wouldn't have to wear a weapon. I mean, they didn't know me at all. If fact I was surprised with the trust they showed me. In England I heard the royalties had loads of bodyguards and such; here they let the young monarch walk around the castle with no protection at all but his own sword. I watched as he moved as if it wasn't even there, so I guess he was used to it. But did it mean that he could handle it as well? "There", Edmund stated and ripped me out of my thoughts. He shot a short, comforting smile my way. "Shall we?"

I nodded and smiled a weak smile. Edmund opened the door again and we took off in the castle. I can't say I wasn't fairly excited about seeing the entire castle, in daylight this time. The palace had seemed so magnificent yesterday and now, I couldn't wait until I had seen every bit of it, even if it would take me weeks.

**Review is love… :)**

So what did you think of it? Did it fit your expectations? Please review and let me know if you did or if you thought that there was something missing. I really wanna know. ^^


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey there. Has it been two years since the last update? I got an email yesterday about that someone had started to follow this story, and that kind of woke me up. I can't promise that there won't be another two years before the next update, but I'll do my best, alright? I guess all I can do is apologize and ask if _there still is anyone willing to read the next chapter_? I really hope so! Thanks for remembering me about this story. Love you all.**

**.:CHAPTER SEVEN: KINGS AND SWEETS:.**

We walked through the castle, my arm laced with his. I guess that that was the way the King at my side was used to walk, but I couldn't help feeling a little odd. My arm felt a stiff, since I didn't relax it one bit. I wasn't sure whether I should simply rest my arm against his or if I should hold it in this awkward position, but the King didn't seem to mind. Therefore, I decided to pretend that I knew how to do this, how to walk properly arm in arm with royalty, and kept my head high. At first, Edmund walked with long, powerful strides at my side and I had a rough time trying to keep even steps with him. He soon noticed my troubles and said nothing, but slowed down just enough for me to enjoy the moment. Here I was, Eleonora, the orphan, walking beside a King as if I was his equal. I tried to cover my smile as I walked through the corridors, but I know for sure that I didn't succeed in the matter. Servants bowed to us, which was weird for me, but Edmund simply smiled at them and said "good day" as if this happened to him every day… I mentally slapped myself. _Of course it did, stupid. Someone probably bows to this guy every two minutes, or more!_

"…the kitchen, would you like that?" Edmund said and effectively stole away my attention from the nagging voice in my head. _It's not my fault I didn't grow up with a thousand servants!_

"Eleonora?" he said, taking a step ahead of me. He turned around and faced me, eyebrows lifted as if he had just asked me a question. _That's because he did, silly girl._

"Um… yes, your grace?" I asked, blushing with all that I had. I'm sure I looked like those red tomatoes in the market that I used to visit to buy vegetables for my Madam. I remembered the sweet little lady that sold them, she often would give me a few sweets when I walked by. I would hide them in my pockets, give her a warm hug and then dart right back to the orphanage. The memories came back almost too easy now.

_I could feel the wind blow in my hair as I skipped down the streets. I knew that Sarah would be overjoyed when she saw me coming, and I wouldn't let her down. I had gotten exactly eight sweets from the kind lady at the tomato-stand and I had hidden them carefully in my pockets. My Madam greeted with at the door with harsh words, but I couldn't wait to get to Sarah. Her words did nothing to me, I was used to the mental abuse._

_I found Sarah on a broken swing as she tried to fix it, but her sad posture , head hanging, left me no doubt that it wasn't working out very good for her. She wore a purple sweater, with the color faded out, and grey pants which were just a little bit too short._

_"Sarah", I called out._

_Her head whipped around and her pout quickly became a broad smile. Oh, how I loved my baby sister._

_"Yes, Ellie?"_

_"Come with me", I said, tugging her to a dark corner. "Here, have some." I gave her three sweets and her eyes nearly popped when she saw them in my hands. She plopped two of them in her mouth and gave the other one to me._

_"Thank you."_

_We sat together in a moment of peace and I closed my eyes as my tongue rolled over the sweet, savoring the taste. I gave her the last one and she squealed of happiness._

_"My favorites!" she said, just a little bit too loud._

_"Sarah…" I said, but it was too late._

_My Madam stepped out of a building nearby and her grey eyes burned right into mine. I stood up quickly and sighed. She said nothing. She simply walked up to us and looked me right in the eyes. Then she slapped me. I didn't flinch. I never said a word. Sarahs eyes where full of tears as she looked up on me. My madam took her hand and lead her away. I fell down to my knees and closed my eyes. Whatever I did, no matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to fail her. I always seemed to fail my sister, the one depending on me._

"Earth to Eleonora?" Edmund tried to gain my attention by waving a hand in front of my unseeing eyes. I snapped back to reality.

"Yes?" I said, biting down on my lip. I felt very much embarrassed, and I couldn't understand why those memories came back with such power. _This never happened back in England._

"There", he said, chuckling a little at my behavior. _Oh God, save me from this humiliation_. "What I was trying to ask you was if you wanted me to properly show you the way to the kitchen? It might be good to know for you."

"Yes, your grace", I said quietly, wishing there was no such thing as blushing.

"I also asked you to call me Edmund, you know, while you were 'gone'", he smiled down at me. "Please, don't call me "your grace", I'm a person just like you."

"Oh, then I won't." I smiled back at him, trying to forget about my burning cheeks.

"Shall we?" He offered me his arm, and I remembered how to lace my arm through his. I smiled at the tingling when our skin touched, although I hoped that he wouldn't see it. Somehow, I liked this King. I always imagined royalty to be posh and cruel, but this absolutely did not fit the guy next to me. Perhaps there was a different kind of royalty here in… what was it called again? Oh yes. Narnia. Perhaps there was a different kind of royalty here in Narnia.

**…**

We met up with Lucy and Sarah about noon and they left us eating lunch. I guess they had some other, a bit more important thing to do than guiding us through a meal. I thought we handled it rather good on our own, and the chef laughed when my sister ran up to him, curtsied and said "thank you sir, for the exquisite food", with a high pitched voice. I guess that a morning with a queen taught her some manners. And complicated words.

**…**

Later that afternoon, someone knocked on our door. Sarah ran to open it and Lucy walked in. She smiled at us and sat down on my bed next to me. Sarah jumped up on the other side of her; I think that she had grown quite fond of the queen in only on day.

"My brother and cousin had some urgent business that they had to take care of, so I figured that you might want to continue your journey through our castle. Would you like to accompany me for in a walk through the garden? It's very beautiful in the summer," she asked.

"Yes, of course", I said. "We would very much like to."

She smiled again and led the way out.

I wouldn't say that she showed us a garden. I'd say she showed us a world of miracles. In every corner there was a flower, a bush or a tree bearing all sorts of bright colored fruits, and every flower was brighter than the last. The grass was green as emerald and the sculptures that decorated the garden looked so real that I almost couldn't believe that they were made out of stone. In the middle of it all stood a chess table. The table itself was made out black wood, smooth as silk and very beautiful. On top of that was a game of chess. It looked like it was made of solid gold. Perhaps it was. I wandered around in the garden while Lucy told us all sort of stories regarding the garden and the things in it.

Suddenly, we heard horses galloping. I turned around and saw eight big, beautiful horses coming our way. Lucy rushed out of the garden to meet them, and we followed her. In the front rode a guy that I remembered from the ballroom, one of the regents. King Eustace, maybe?

"Eustace!" Lucy greeted, making my beliefs true. Her smile turned to a look of terror when she saw her cousin's facial expression. The rider had had blood all over his armor and his face was grim.

"We lost him, Lucy. We lost him in the dark woods", he sighed with tears welling up in his eyes.

Lucy gasped. "Oh no…" she whispered.

"There was an ambush. They came out of nowhere. It was the Targs, Lucy. You know as well as I do that he is the best swordfighter of all of us, but somehow they got him. When we thought that we'd killed them all, he was nowhere to be seen. I'm so sorry Lucy", he said with defeat in his voice.

My heart sank as he spoke. Somehow, I just knew who he spoke of. I didn't know who the Targs where, but I guess that they were darn good swordfighters. Lucy had told me of his skills in battle, and he sure wasn't easily defeated from what I had heard. A single tear ran down my cheek. I don't know why I felt this way about someone I had recently met, but he was one of the few persons that actually showed me some kindness. I had known fond of the two siblings, and I wanted no harm for them. The worst scenario always wormed itself into my mind. He couldn't be dead. No…

The last thing I heard before I fainted was Lucy whispering her brother´s name.

"Edmund… Oh no…"

**Review is love... :)**


	9. Chapter 8

Hey there! I guess this update was quicker than ever, but perhaps I'm feeling a bit guilty at the moment, about not updating for so long before. I hope that you all like this and that you won't mind this being a little bit shorter than the average chapter. All my love to you all. And here it is, chapter eight.  
_  
_** .:CHAPTER EIGHT: POISON:.**

_I looked right into the lion's big eyes. They looked like twirling pools of rich, dark chocolate and if I looked deep enough in them it seemed like I would either drown, or unlock some of the deepest mysteries of the universe. We stood barely three feet apart, and I could feel his breath on my face. The golden mane shone in the dim light. I could sense the forest around me. I could feel a weak wind tousle my hair and the grass was moist against my feet. There wasn't much light, but everything that I could see shimmered in a shade of green. Except the lion of course. Everything about him shone in a lush, golden color._

_"There is something that I would want you to see", he said in a serious tone. "Watch carefully, child._  
_I nodded, but said nothing. There was no need for words as I saw nine riders trotting through the forest and in to a clearing. The lion and I stood further away, behind some low bushes, but I saw everything very clear. Edmund rode first, looking magnificent on a big, brown horse. His face was stern and his hand was gripping his sword, holding it out in front of him. The steel glimmered in the dim light and his hair was tousled from the ride. After him followed Eustace and the rest of the men. Edmund made a quick halt as soon as he came to the middle of the clearing, and the other one followed his lead. He held a finger to his lips, silencing the small talk. In my heart I knew that this was the place where he was ambushed._

_The ambushers came out of nowhere, surprising the party. They were huge men with large broadswords, dressed in leather. Some of them jumped on the horses, pulling the riders of them. Some of them battled with the ones on the ground. Things happened to fast for me to understand everything completely. A young man threw himself at Edmund and they tumbled off the horse together. The man was blonde and almost as tall as the King. I saw how the stranger was pulling something out of the front pocket of his leatherjacket while Edmund got back on his feet. Another ambusher made a move against him and the King made the fight short, the other man quickly dropping to the ground, unconscious. My eyes couldn't leave the fighting young man, his dark hair falling into his eyes as he turned around at the speed of light and his sword clashed with the sword that belonged to man who pulled him off his horse. The other one was skilled, but Edmund easily blocked his sword as the stranger attacked. Then two other men joined the fight. I saw Edmund having troubles fighting three at once, and I wanted to help him so bad. I took a quick step forward, but the great lion stopped me from going any further._

_"This is only the past, child. You can do nothing to change what has happened, but you can change the future. Remember that", his silk voice hummed in my ear._

_I nodded, keeping my attention on the fight. Another ambusher had joined the fight. Edmund fought for his life. His sword was quick and deadly, and two of them were down before I could blink. A man lashed out for him, and as Edmund was occupied with keeping that man off him, the blonde one got close up his back._

_"Edmund, watch out!" I screamed, but he could not hear me._

_The other man quickly stabbed Edmund in the shoulder and I saw how the King froze. I screamed, wanting to run up to him, but the lion kept a heavy paw on my shoulder, keeping me away from the scene. The ambusher threw away the thing that he had stabbed Edmund with into the forest and Edmund fell to his knees. The man in front of the fallen raised his sword to bring it down on his neck, but the blonde man held up his hand to stop him._

_"No, I want him alive", he said with half a smile. His grey eyes glittered._

_The other man nodded and picked the King up. I noticed that Edmund was unconscious, his head hanging and his eyes shut. He looked as if he was sleeping. The two darted out of the clearing and disappeared into the forest without anyone noticing them. The other ones kept fighting, but the battle was soon over. Only maybe two minutes after the disappearance of Edmund, the party from Cair Paravel stood as winners. I saw the panic in Eustace's eyes as he noticed his cousin was missing and they all started looking for him, screaming his name._

_"There is more that you must see, daughter of Eve. Come with me, and I will show you."_

_He started to walk deeper into the forest, but stopped after only a couple of meters. I followed him solemnly, confused of what he showed me and sad because of what I had seen._

_"Look carefully at this, remember it", he said, indicating at a small needle at his feet. It was long and thin with some sort of blue and red fluid on it and a beautifully made handle. I recognized the red fluid to be blood and it didn't take me long to realize that this was the thing that stabbed Edmund; it was his blood on the handle._

_"It's poison on it, isn't it?" I asked wearily._

_"Yes, child. It is poison. You must tell Lucy of this immediately, she will know exactly what to do."_

_I studied the needle, but wouldn't touch the filthy thing. Poison, I should have known; Edmund wouldn't lose in a fair fight, even with four men against him._

_"Is there anything else that you would like me to do?" I asked._

_"No, my dear. This is the only thing that I've got for you today, but it is very important. I do guess that I don't have to tell you to help them in their search for Edmund?" He smiled gently at me._

_"I will do my best", I promised. "He was very kind to me and looked after me when I was in trouble. He even gave me a home, and I will do my best to bring him back to his." I was determined to do just that._

_"Good. But be careful, my child. There is a war coming, and I do not know the outcoming of it."_

_I nodded silently, looking deep into his big eyes and fully understanding the meaning of his words._

_**There is a war coming.**That meant dead, killing, danger. I noticed how my vision was blurring and closed my eyes to let me return to reality faster. I was on a mission. Now that I knew that he might be alive. I had to find him. I had to find Edmund._

**Review is love… **


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